Nagasaki Shunsuke
Nagasaki Shunsuke (長崎 峻侑) is a trampolinist who is one of the most promising of recent competitors. This skilled trampolinist, who is called "Prince of the Trampoline", has won several medals in the Trampoline World Cups and Doha Asian Games. Competition History Shunsuke first appeared in SASUKE 14 at age 17 when he was only a high school sophomore. In that competition, he made it to the Second Stage, where after struggling on the Spider Walk, he timed out on the Wall Lifting obstacle. In SASUKE 15, he joined Kawashima Takayuki as having the distinction of being the youngest competitor to reach the Third Stage, which they did at age 18. He made it to the Third Stage's Cliffhanger in both the 15th and 16th tournaments and failed there. After SASUKE 16, he built a Cliffhanger replica in his garage to train. In the 17th competition, he came out strong by finishing the First Stage with the fastest time, clearing with 17.7 seconds left. He then cleared the Second Stage with 10.8 seconds left. In the Third Stage, he finally got by the Cliffhanger obstacle and completed the Third Stage, along with eventual champion Nagano Makoto. Although he timed out on the Final Stage, it was this competition that people really took notice of Nagasaki as a serious contender. In SASUKE 18, he and his brother Takamasa made it through the new First Stage. Then in the Second Stage, Nagasaki breezed through the new obstacles (including the new Salmon Ladder) and made it to the Third Stage. In the redesigned Third Stage, he made it to the fourth obstacle, the Shin-Cliffhanger. Unlike Nagano Makoto and future competitors, Nagasaki tried to reach for the third ledge without jumping. However, due to the large gap, he failed that obstacle. In the 19th competition, he was eliminated in the First Stage by falling off the Flying Chute; this was his first time failing the First Stage. Until then, only him and Kane Kosugi had perfect First Stage record of five consecutive clears in their first five tournaments. All-Star? Much confusion arose when announcer Hatsuta Keisuke said during his intro, "Will Nagasaki be the first All-Star to finish Stage One?" While Nagasaki has his own theme song, he is not considered one of the SASUKE All-Stars by TBS. Absences Shunsuke did not compete in SASUKE 20 due to his training for the 2008 Olympics (though he was seen training G4's American Ninja Challengers on the trampoline a couple of days before the competition). Before SASUKE 22, Nagasaki wrote on his blog that he wanted to compete (and even showed a picture of him practicing the Shin-Cliffhanger). However, he was not invited for unknown reasons. Return to SASUKE After a 9 tournament hiatus it was announced that Nagasaki would eventually compete in SASUKE 29. Upon his comeback, although digested, he did well, clearing the First Stage with 11.8 seconds left. However, like many competitors that day, the Second Stage proved disastrous for Nagasaki. He was slowed down by the Unstable Bridge and the hardened Backstream, leaving him little time to clear the final obstacle, the Passing Wall, and he eventually timed out there. As of 2013, Nagasaki has completed the First Stage 6 times (5 consecutively), the Second Stage 4 times (all consecutively), and the Third Stage once. Results Real SASUKE STICKMAN SASUKE